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Old and young team up to beat stereotypes about ageism

Sarah Scheffer, 30, expected residents at the retirement home where she was making a short video to be polished and proper. But what she got was Mickey Radmore, 94, a man full of fun and great stories, although, he admits, all not necessarily true.

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“Mickey made me laugh and cry more than anyone in a long time,” says Scheffer. “He completely changed my ideas.”

That was the goal of the project, to combat ageism, toward both the old and the young. Twenty aspiring filmmakers, aged 11 to 30, made short videos of seniors as a way to develop understanding between the generations and dispel stereotypes.

“The youth were able to find the traits in each person — a loving spirit, cheekiness, friskiness — that makes that individual special,” explains Zoe Miles, programs manager at Reel Youth, a non-profit that helps youth make films about important issues. “And in the process they got to know each other.”

The project is a collaboration between Reel Youth and Revera, a provider of seniors’ homes and services. The filming took place at two retirement residences, Appleby Place in Burlington and Whitecliff in White Rock, B.C.

In the videos, each about four minutes, some of the seniors talk about accomplishments in their lives. Bernie Custis, 83, was the first black quarterback to play football in North America when he joined the Hamilton Tiger Cats in 1951. Doreen Reid, 94, was the first female probation officer in Saskatchewan.

Some of the videos tell love stories. Walter and Irene Jamieson, married nearly 70 years, hold hands and kiss in the short film. In grade school, he’d pull her braids and she’d chase after him.

“It’s important to see beyond the label older person,” says Greg Shaw, director of international and corporate relations for the International Federation on Aging. “Ageism is the most tolerated social prejudice in Canada.”

The Reel Youth participants were recruited through schools and community groups. They spent two days learning about filmmaking and interviewing techniques before meeting their subjects. They filmed for two days and then spent two days putting the films together.

“I consider the experience life-changing,” says Carleigh Reynolds, 17. “I know that sounds cheesy. But I came home every day smiling from ear-to-ear telling my parents about my new friends, young and old.

“You forgot about age differences. We were just one group.” The conversations continued long after the cameras were off, she says.

Alice Rowe, 87, interviewed by Reynolds, feels the same way. “I think we made friends. It wasn’t at the level of younger and older,” says Rowe, a poet. In the video, she recites one of her works and talks about her early life — she was married at 24 and widowed at 26.

Reynolds also interviewed football player Custis and Audrey Huff, 90, who talks about her interest in art, particularly drawing portraits, and the importance of enjoying people. “I’ve always smiled easily. It’s just part of me,” she says in the video.

The project altered Huff’s attitudes about youth. “We’re inclined to think they don’t relate to the world, just to their own interests,” says Huff. “But from doing the interview I think that’s a misconception. The young today seem more advanced in their thinking than we were at the same age.”

For Reynolds, the project also boosted her self-confidence. “It hit me — I could really do this,” says the teen who wants to study communications at university next year.

She plans to visit her new friends at the retirement home for lunch sometime soon. At the premiere of the videos held at Appleby Place, Huff introduced her family to Reynolds. “I think I cried,” says Reynolds. “I felt so honoured she’d want her family to meet me.”

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